“Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
..let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:15,16
Light-Vote-Light-truth-light-example-light-kindness-light-love-light-hope
Light-not complacency-light-not lies-Light-is and Light is not.
We would just love to hear about your understanding of good deeds that will cause or has caused others to glorify your Father in heaven!
thedailylily.com 
I love the beautiful photo. It really speaks to what you wrote, Sara, on top and bottom of picture about Light. To me it says that the light is in the house. The room in the house is the heart of the house which contains the furnishings. The room has a golden glow, like the streets of heaven. One has to look beyond the trees to see this. We are God’s house and our hearts should be purified like gold so our furnishings….what we are…our giftings…can shine out into the night…and “glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:15,16”
Much of my understanding of “good deeds” came from the biblical teachings in one of Sara’s books used for a retreat she taught titled, “The Four Bees – Finding Your Spiritual Gifts”. One of Sara’s prayers was: “Gracious God, we thank you for the gift of gifts that you’ve given to each one of us. We pray that You would help us to find and use these gifts for Your glory and to love one another more….” We were encouraged to “Bee prepared to use your gift(s).” And we learned that our gift involves “doing” and that “Jesus, The Messiah, has great joy in seeing the gifts in the Body of Christ come into view and Bee used to the fullest, in abundance.” We were exhorted to “Bee fruitful” and Sara used Col. 1:10 to describe that. “That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Some translations use the word deeds instead of works.)
Other understanding that I gained regarding light was from another retreat book of Sara’s called “Throwing Your Light Forward.” We learned about a Golden Lampstand that “served as a symbol of God as the Light that would guide Israel during the Exodus.” We were instructed about “The True-Light”, Jesus, our “Archetype”. He is the one we need to pattern our behaviors, our deeds and all we do after. And we learned that as we “gather together desiring Unity with one another help and health become the norm.”
If we are going to reflect His Light, then as Sara wrote, “Light-not complacency-light-not lies- “ will be evident…as will “Light-Vote-Light-truth-light-example-light-kindness-light-love-light-hope”.
If we are not seeing these deeds and this Light reflected than we are not seeing the real “Archetype”. We may be seeing a false “light” from the kingdom of darkness …“And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” 2 Cor. 11:14
“You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;” Matthew 5:14 AMP
Debi made a good summary with scriptures to bring us full circle to, “we are the light of Christ to the world. “
We have many questions about these unsettling scriptures when we see “lights” that join the world for the sake of their peace which is often not the peace Jesus speaks of.
God has afforded us many tools in our took chest with instructions on how to use them. How to use the tools of the mind, hands, heart, feet among other viable tools to build the house of light.
In thinking about “this light” the idea appeared in mind when a dark night appears outside turn off inside lights and open the coverings of the windows and lite one tiny light and place it in a window. Trying this where this photo was taken is a room that sits on the side of a slight hill where auto and foot traffic has a pretty heavy trail that gives perfect view to house dwellers and those going by. This quick iPhone shot might show us how a light works when our tools are at work. So this photo has potential to tell our story in theory?
The main lesson I gleaned from this experiment was if a “little light” has no flame and sits among the dark and enjoys the joy of acceptance, showing off their tools rather than tools used to lite the house, the hillside remains dark. So what purpose is an unlit light in the dark of night?
It’s understandable that there may be many baby lessons here for some. And most people I know have conquered this “light show” and can light up their world at all times. They live in their orbit and when time comes to open their shades and burn bright for “all to see” they got it going on. Sorry to say, I’m not young and this principal of light remains a mystery to me in many ways.
If we continue to read Matthew 5 we hear about salt that has lost its purpose. “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste (purpose), how can it be made salty? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and walked on by people [when the walkways are wet and slippery].”
Matthew 5:13 AMP
“We would just love to hear about your understanding of good deeds that will glorify your Father in heaven!” The footnotes for Matthew 5: 14-16 says: “Can you hide a city that is sitting on top of a mountain? Its light at night can be seen from miles. If we live for Christ, we will glow like lights, showing others what Christ is like. We hide our light by (1) being quiet when we should speak, (2) going along with the crowd, (3) denying the light, (4) letting sin dim our light, (5) not explaining our light to others, or (6) ignoring the needs of others. Be a beacon of truth— don’t shut your light off from the rest of the world.”
These footnotes are like a well cleaned mirror. Hey, hide the Windex! 😎
Sara said, “…this principal of light remains a mystery to me in many ways.” I agree.
Reading more scriptures on light, this one came to my attention, ”Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.” Luke 11:34. Gee, maybe the eye is connected to this “principal” somehow.
I read the context about this eye from The Message, “No one lights a lamp, then hides it in a drawer. It’s put on a lamp stand so those entering the room have light to see where they’re going. Your eye is a lamp, lighting up your whole body. If you live wide-eyed in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. Keep your eyes open, your lamp burning, so you don’t get musty and murky. Keep your life as well-lighted as your best-lighted room.”
The ” squinty-eyed in greed and distrust,” made me think of 2 of the things Tammy shared from her footnotes, “(4) letting sin dim our light, and (6) ignoring the needs of others.
And what Sara thought of and did with her “iPhone shot” showed me a good example of “If you live wide-eyed in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light”.
“…squinty-eyed in greed and distrust,” made me think of 2 of the things Tammy shared from her footnotes, “(4) letting sin dim our light, and (6) ignoring the needs of others.” Debi’s post
Debi, if I understand your lesson on light-eye if we truly have The Iight in us we would be on a great timer.
Christianity in our church market of today and maybe always has been seems “musty and murky” to me. We are being called on to pray for a man to be Prez of a nation. One church leader says if you are a Christian you pray this and another says the opposite. Oh heck why bother to write all this turn on any Christian group and you most likely will hear and flip to another etc etc and one might feel like running to the wilderness.
If my finger votes wrong by these leaders hell is my home. But, if I vote with another group I guess Heaven is my home. Now did I hear exactly these words? No. Maybe they don’t believe in such archaic words. So decide which groups I want to send my money to and vote with gives me a op for something.
On the “Ignoring the needs of others” we understand there are over 500 children being held with loss parents. All the greatness of man can’t locate them. Well, who can help? Even Jesus found people couldn’t help because they were busy with home and family. Many duties in life.
I’m just touching lightly on heavy questions being asked. Many by young people wondering if this Christianity is a thing of the past. Where are the answers? Where is The Light of The World?
Sara you stated, “Christianity in our church market of today and maybe always has been seems “musty and murky” to me. “
That made me think about some musty books in my garage. They sat around too long in a dark, damp basement and are not fit to be read and not good for anything but to be thrown out. The other day while out walking, I walked by a small enclosed stone structure filled with murky water. I could not see far into it because it was dark and no fresh water was flowing into it. The musty books and the murky water seem to be the opposite of what the Bible says Jesus is all about. He is referred to as the Living Water; the Living bread; the Word of Life. He is Love. He showed us what He was by His deeds and what He did.
Sara, you gave us a current example of, “Ignoring the needs of others”. And you asked, “Where is The Light of The World?”
Maybe the “Light of the World” has removed the lamp or light that is supposed to be burning in “Christians”. This is how the Message translation describes what could happen if we don’t “perform the deeds you did at first (Berean translation): “But you walked away from your first love—why? What’s going on with you, anyway? Do you have any idea how far you’ve fallen? A Lucifer fall! “Turn back! Recover your dear early love. No time to waste, for I’m well on my way to removing your light from the golden circle.” Rev. 2:5
Sara, you said, “I’m just touching lightly on heavy questions being asked.” I agree that you have posed “heavy questions”.